Is PG OpenMonitor free?
Yes. Free to use, no signup, no paywall, no API keys.
Do I need to sign up?
No. The viewer runs entirely in your browser. No account, no email collection. Analytics are anonymous.
What is Potential Gradient (PG)?
Potential Gradient is the magnitude of the vertical atmospheric electric field measured at ground level, in volts per meter (V/m).
Under fair-weather conditions, PG follows a universal diurnal pattern called the Carnegie curve, driven by the global electric circuit (GEC). Local PG also responds to thunderstorms, charged aerosols, dust, fog, and ionospheric coupling — making it a useful proxy for both global circuit dynamics and local atmospheric conditions.
Which stations does PG OpenMonitor expose?
Three stations are currently exposed on the web:
- ICA — Peru, high-altitude tropical site
- SPA — São Paulo, Brazil
- ATI — Brazil
They are part of the larger AFINSA network of atmospheric electric field stations. Additional AFINSA stations exist but are not in the public viewer at this time.
Where does the data come from?
From the AFINSA network field-mill instruments at each station.
Raw 1 Hz samples are normalized server-side, decimated for browser-side rendering, and republished as gzipped JSON bundles. The network is operated in collaboration with CRAAM / Mackenzie (São Paulo).
How often is the data updated?
Live streams refresh approximately every minute per station; the underlying instruments sample at ~1 Hz. Historical archives are appended daily.
What is the Carnegie curve?
The Carnegie curve is the diurnal pattern of fair-weather atmospheric electric field measured globally, named after the 1920s research voyages of the Carnegie ship.
It peaks around 19 UTC and reaches a minimum around 03 UTC, independent of local solar time. It is the canonical signature of the global atmospheric electric circuit (GEC) — the planetary-scale current flow driven by tropical thunderstorms and electrified shower clouds.
What languages does PG OpenMonitor support?
English, Spanish, and Portuguese. The language switcher in the topbar persists your choice in localStorage and reflects it in the URL via the ?lang= query parameter, so a shared link preserves the language too.
Is the source code open?
No. The viewer source code is intentionally private.
What is open is the service (free, no signup, anonymous analytics). The "Open" in OpenMonitor refers to open-access service, not open-source code.
Who built PG OpenMonitor?
Mauricio Romero, independent researcher collaborating with CRAAM / Mackenzie (São Paulo).
Contact: romero@rudimirz.com. ORCID: 0000-0001-8818-4876.
How do I report a bug or request a feature?
Email romero@rudimirz.com.
Bug reports including a copy of the viewer's debug payload (timezone, station selected, time range) are most actionable.